Regular Meetingsare held on the first
Tuesday of the month at 7:15 in the evening unless otherwise
announced. They are are held at the Emerson Community Center off of
Pettee Street. Click
herefor directions. There is free
parking.

Upcoming regular meetings will be
held on Tuesday
February 5, March 5, April 2, May 7, and June 4, 2019.

No July Meetings. Minutes of
the January, 2019 meeting are
available here.

To read our 2018 Annual Report to Members,
click here.
The 2018 report will be issued in December.

Stone Building Railings:
Major Success

At our October meeting, Evan Westrate announced that fencing for the
Stone Building project has been fabricated and installantion is now
complete. The new railings, shown in the photos to the righ, taken
during construction, are gorgeous.

This project has been
champrioned by Evan who announced last December that the DCR approved our
public-private partnership proposal to replace the fencing by the Stone
Building. The Friends have contributed $7,000 and the state $14,000 to the
project. the official letter of
commitment from the DCR was received last spring.

We all congratulate Evan on his tenacious
work on behalf of all of us in bringing the project to a successful
conclusion.

2018 Annual
Summer Picnic The Friends of Hemlock Gorge’s Annual Summer Picnic was held on
a pleasant summer evening on August 7. Music was again provided by
Karen Osborn and a good time was had by all.

Echo Bridge Railing
Project

Echo Bridge is one of outstanding landmarks of the Metropolitan Parks
System. Built in 1876, Echo Bridge was designed by the Boston Water
Works (BWW) to carry the Sudbury Aqueduct over the
Charles River. The largest of its seven arches is 130’ in length,
which made it the second longest masonry arch in the United States.
The bridge is remarkable for its graceful and handsome granite and
brick design that contribute to the rugged beauty of Hemlock Gorge.

The historic cast iron railings pictured above are an integral
component of the promenade over which pedestrians and bicyclists
traverse daily. After 140 years, however, they are now in serious
disrepair. In 2008, the MWRA installed a temporary chain link safety
fence inside the historic railings to enable the bridge to remain
open.

The time has come to either raise the funds to properly replicate
the historic railings or to install a more permanent and attractive
safety railing system inside the historic railings while leaving the
old railings themselves in disrepair. Everyone prefers the former path
if at all possible.

While State Rep. Ruth Balser was successful in allocating $250,000 in
a past transportation bond bill for the railing project, full costs
for the project far exceed that amount. In response to the fact that
the MWRA cannot fund historic preservation projects decoupled from its
water supply mission, a group of citizens has joined together to help
raise funds to fix the historic railings, and we invite your support.

Funds are being sought from multiple sources via a private/public
partnership so that the expense of proper restoration is shared across
a variety of stakeholders and contributors. Sources will include State
funds, Newton and Needham Community Preservations funds, historic
foundations, and private contributors. MWRA, the bridge owner, will be
the funding recipient and will provide the engineering, contracting,
and project management expertise to conduct the project. Will you join
us in a pledge?

To read a very detailed government report on the Echo Bridge railings, provided to
us by Lee Fisher,click here.

2018 Annual Report

The 2018 Annual Year-End Report to Members is online.
Click hereto read it.

2019 Summer Picnic

Our Annual
Picnic will take place on Tuesday, August
6, 2019
across the river from the usual location(Hamilton Place) from late afternoon to dusk.

2016 Saving the Hemlock
Trees Project

Through the efforts of Bob Burke, a plan was made to treat the hemlock
trees in the Reservation with an insecticide on Arbor Day, April 29.
Jason Lupien of Lupient Tree Service was organizing the program to
prvovide the labor at no cost, if the Friends could purchase the
insecticide. See the minutes of our April, 2016 meeting (click
here
).

Unexpectedly, the DCR announced that they had decided to undertake the
treatment at no cost to the Friends. Ken Gooch of DCR and two USDA
staff did in fact treat the trees on May 23. Brian was there to
observe during the morning. He reports that they did dozens of trees
from the pathway to the overlook to Echo Bridge, including some of the
very tall ones near the bridge that look pretty sickly. If the
treatment works, the results should be spectacular. They said they
were going to spend the rest of the day treating trees and that they
had plenty of supplies.

Arborist Ken
Gooch of the DCR was at our June meeting to update us on the
treatment of the hemlocks. At the moment the trees are in greater
peril from the elongated hemlock scale than the adelgids. Lisa Barstow of the
DCR updated us on the fence project, and Marti Rudi, also of the DCR, updated
us on the stone building shingles. For more details read the minutes of our
VERY informative June, 2016 meeting; to do soclick
here.

Finishing the
rehabilitation of the Eliot Street Bridge in 2017

State authorities have completed reconstruction of the Eliot Street
Bridge reconstruction at the southern end of Hemlock Gorge Reservation.
Restoration of the meadow is proceeding. For details
click here.

To read Ken Newcomb's account of the long history of this bridge in
Makers of the Mold,
click here.

2018 Fall Cleanup

The Annual
Fall Cleanup of Hemlock Gorge was canceled due to a nor'easter.

The Stone Building windows and screens are installed. See pictures to
the right and below. We are planning a dedication event for the
spring, probably in April.

New Windows. View from inside the Stone Barn

The installed windows

Feast in the Falls 2018

Seana Gaherin and her volunteer committee
successfully arranged the second of her Upper Falls Residents outdoor luncheons on
June 23, 2017. The food was delicious and Jerry Reilly entertained us all
with grandeloquent rap singing. A grand time was had by all.

The 2018 Feast will be in July.

Our 2013
Spring Cleanup went
well, though our invited guests were unable to attend. Most folks
seemed to think that putting a fence like that near the new spillway
should be our next project. We'll try to post some photos.

Spillway Dam Repair
News

The
dam is completed and the dedication was held in late November, 2012. The
efforts of the Friends were recognized and President Brian Yates was
an invited speaker.

New Resource

Melissa Moody,
a Girl Scout working with Site Supervisor Erica Aubin, has
put in place a remarkable signage project running along
the Quinobequin Road trail,
downstream of Hemlock Gorge. Instead of static signposts, she
has installed interactive signage with QR barcodes. Go have a look and
bring your smartphone
and QR barcode reader. It’s the future of nature trails, and we
should plan something similar for Hemlock Gorge,
perhaps with the Troop 242 Boy Scouts.
Melissa's website iswww.qbqtrail.orgVery Impressive!

The new landscaping at the stone building

The new spillway dam.

2013 Adelgid News from
Bob Burke

Biggest news is that the Arboretum is planning
to save some of its hemlocks using new technology.

"I met with Peter Del Tredici at the Arnold
Arboretum and then went over to see their hemlocks. Peter had good
news and bad news. The good news is that there is, indeed, a new
hemlock treatment that is good for 5 years. It involves placing a
chemical substance in the soil rather than injecting it into the
tree.The bad news is that at least 60 percent of a tree should be
free of adelgids for this treatment to work. This can be quite
expensive. He thinks we should look to saving perhaps half a dozen
of the healthiest trees.

He also stated that 2011 was very bad
for all the hemlocks because of the warm weather.

Western hemlocks are more resistant than
Eastern ones, but they don't do as well here because of the colder
winters and drier summers.

He says we need a professional tree company
to determine what can be done. He was reluctant to recommend one,
but then casually said that Hartney Greymont of Needham is very
reputable and one of the best.

I had a look at the Hemlocks back in April
or May, but have had a very bad ankle tendonitis that makes it
difficult to walk up hills or sideways. Maybe we could all go
around and take a look at the trees during the cleanup in October.
The Hemlocks at Arnold Arboretum are also worth seeing since they
have been treated and look fine."

Stone Building
Windows:
Great News

Windows are fabricated and have been installed!
As soon as the prtective screens are put in front of them, we
will be able to see and enjoy them--probably before 2013. Of course,
we'll have to have a party to celebrate and thank the Sangiolos for
their generous support of this much delayed project.

The Charles River Wetlands Trail,
located downstream of Hemlock Gorge, on the opposite side of Route
9, less than a mile away. The trail features signage that uses QR
barcodes that a hiker with a smartphone can use to learn more about
the flora and fauna near the sign. Click here if you are
interested in exploring these wetlands.

Friends' activist Jerry Reilly had an
editorial printed in the Newton Tab. Regrettably we do not have a
link.

2012
Spring Cleanup
Friends of Hemlock Gorge’s Annual Spring Cleanup took place on
Saturday April 21 and was a big success. We had more than 30
volunteers on a perfectly wonderful spring day. We extend our thanks
to everyone who volunteered, to the DCR staff and Site Supervisor
Erica Aubin who provided support, and to Dunn-Gaherin's Restaurant who
generously provided lunches for the volunteers. For a photo album of
the event when available
click
here.

Website enhancements delayed

With regret we have to announce that modernization of our website is
delayed indefinitely.

The "Memory House"
at Hemlock Gorge

Friends member Bob Burke not too long ago wrote a lovely guest columnist article
about Hemlock Gorge and the Friends' activities that has appeared in
the Newton Tab. Highly recommended.
Click here to read it.

We have moved older Echo Bridge stories that have appeared on our web
site to our
Archive
of News Stories. This is where you will find news of awards,
encroachment, politics and such. For news about key concerns of the
Friends like the adelgids, Echo Bridge, and the Stone Building are
below.

This walk took place on a gorgeous day,
with about three dozen people in attendance. Everyone agreed that Hemlock Gorge is both a beautiful place to
walk and the site of much historical importance as Newton's first
industrial center. Old maps and photographs helped the group to
visualize the mills that were located on the island and along the
Charles River and to appreciate the importance of Worcester
Turnpike/Route 9 to the area's commerce. The walk was expertly led by
Lucy Caldwell-Stair, with whom the gourp found the site of the 1893
Echo Bridge Park amphitheater and the cave, the "Devil's Den," where
Native Americans stored dried fish.

The Arnold Arboretum's
Response to the Adelgid (Winter 2005) Click here to
view the story.

Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Website
(January 2005) The USDA Forest Service now has a website dedicated to
the woolly adelgid. The site includes all the of the USDA's newsletters
on the pest, pictures, and a great deal of technical information.
Interestingly, the Forest Service is looking at several different
control insects, not just the P. tsugae ladybugs we released.
Click here
to go the to US Forest Service adelgid website.

Mark McClure, who was a leader in adelgid research and discovered
"our" ladybugs, retired.

Release of the Ladybugs
(2001)
Click here for the story and photos of the release of the ladybugs

The new windows for
the Stone Building, donated in 2002 and fabricated in 2008, are awaiting
installation.

March 1,
2006

In early January, the Friends of Hemlock Gorge
succeeded in our application for a Public-Private Partnership
with the Department of Conservation and
Recreation (DCR). The Friends
earmarked $2500 for a new floor and other repairs to the Stone
Building, and that amount will be matched by
the DCR. We will post a copy of the correspondence soon. This means
that our long hoped for plans to make the Stone
Building a great venue for Friends' activities
will soon become a reality (February 2006). The new floor will,
hopefully, be followed soon by the new windows, for which funds have
already been generously donated by the
Sangiolo Trust. On February
23, we were notified by the DCR that they are preparing to pour
the floor very soon, and that the Friends will be asked for input on
design.

To the right: the Silk Mill in 1905, before construction of the
"Horseshoe" or Circular Dam.
Note the lower water level. From a postcard recently found by Bonnie and
Rick Pearson. Click for a larger image.

Panoramic photos of Hemlock Gorge
taken by Steve Clark
from the top of Echo Bridge show well the
splendor of the Reservation and comprise the
Friends' Four Seasons of Hemlock Gorge collection.
Panoramas were pretty special back in 2000.

Click on the small images below to
see the Panoramas full size. Note: If you are using Internet
explorer, you need to hover your cursor on the image to see it full
size. An icon will appear. Click on it, and the image enlarges.

Spring 2000

Summer 2000

Fall 2000

Winter 2001, taken during
the storm of March 5-6

Doug Cornelius posted a lovely account of canoeing through Hemlock Gorge
a few years ago with
pictures.
Click here to see it.

Another collection of photos of Hemlock Gorge is at Boston Online:
Click here to see them.

Makers of
the Mold, a full-length
illustrated history of the Newton Upper Falls community which
borders Hemlock Gorge, is available only on the Web.
Authored by Historian, Conservationist, and Friend Ken Newcomb, who passed away in 2002.
Copies ofthe print edition of The Makers of the Mold
can be purchased online
and are also available at several local restaurants, convenience
stores and cafes. The full list of outlets can be found
here.

Meetings are held at the Emerson Community Center on Pettee Street in
Newton Upper Falls on the first Tuesday of the month unless otherwise indicated!

Saturday April 30, 2016:
Annual Spring Cleanup of Hemlock Gorge.Volunteers should meet at Hamilton Place between 9:30 and 10 a.m.
For a MAP showing the location, click here. Parking available at Hamilton Place, the Mills Falls
parking lot, and at the Hemlock Gorge parking lot at the intersection
of Ellis St. and Rte. 9. Spruce-up materials supplied and Refreshments
provided for all volunteers! Please dress appropriately for the
work and weather (rain or shine).

Non-governmental Organizations

The Charles River Wetlands Trail,
located downstream of Hemlock Gorge, on the opposite side of Route 9, less
than a mile away. The trail features signage that uses QR barcodes that a
hiker with a smartphone can use to learn more about the flora and fauna near
the sign. Click here if you are
interested in exploring these wetlands.

The Friends of
the Middlesex Fells Reservation
The Friends of the Fells is an all volunteer organization
with a mission to protect and preserve the natural and historic resources of
the Middlesex Fells Reservation. In addition, we assist the Department of
Conservation and Recreation (DCR) formerly the MDC, in educating the public
about the natural, cultural and appropriate recreational features in the
Fells.

The
Friends of Breakheart ReservationThe Friends of Breakheart Reservation is a volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation and improvement of Breakheart Reservation and Camp Nihan.

The
Friends of Lynn WoodsThe Friends of Lynn Woods have formed to ensure
the perpetual existence of the Lynn Woods
Reservation as outlined by the Indentured Trust
of December of 1881. Our aim is to protect the
Woods from development and exploitation, and
maintain the Woods as a natural and unspoiled
forest preserve.

Friends
of the Blue HillsThe Friends of the Blue Hills work to restore,
preserve and protect approximately 8,000 acres of the Historic Blue Hills
and Neponset River Reservations. Active volunteer committees work on the
preservation of historic, cultural, natural, and recreational resources. The
Friends also run a series of outdoor activities and workshops year-round.

The
Friends of Walden PondThe Friends of Walden Pond is a key outreach activity of The Thoreau
Society. The Society works with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation
and Recreation, which manages the Reservation, to develop and sponsor
interpretive programs that connect Walden, the book, to Walden, the place.
The Society funds work to protect the spot that continues to inspire people
in this new century as it did when it became Thoreau's laboratory, sanctuary
and study in the woods.

Charles
River Conservancy The Charles River Conservancy (CRC) is dedicated
to the renovation, maintenance and enrichment of
the Charles River Basin and its surroundings,
particularly its parks, parkways, and bridges.
Founded in 1999, the CRC is a nonprofit advocacy
group that works to create better understanding
of the best uses of the basin through education,
public dialogue, and interpretive programs.
Promotion of increased access, good planning, and
management practices is designed to enhance the
architecture landscape, and amenities of the
basin.

The Trustees of
Reservations This web site is your window into the diverse
work of The Trustees of Reservations, the
nation's oldest private, statewide conservation
and preservation organization. Since 1891, we
have protected over 33,000 acres of land in
Massachusetts, including 82
public reservations representing many of the
state's
most scenic, ecologically rich, and historically
important landscapes.

Massachusetts Audubon
SocietyMassachusetts Audubon Society, the largest
conservation organization in New England, works
to
preserve the natural world through conservation,
education, and environmental advocacy. We protect
more than 29,000 acres of conservation land in
Massachusetts, conduct educational programs for
nearly 175,000 schoolchildren each year, and
advocate for sound environmental policies at the
local, state, and federal levels. We maintain 41
wildlife sanctuaries that are open to the public
and serve as a land base for our education,
conservation and advocacy programs.

NorumbegaPark.comThis website is keeping alive the memory of the Norumbega amusement park, a
popular "trolley" park on the Charles River in the Auburndale section of
Newton, MA. Norumbega Park opened in 1897 and closed in 1963. The famous
"Totem Pole Ballroom" was located here.

A Celebration for the Friends' late
Historian and Author, Ken Newcomb was held on Thursday,
November 19, 1998 to celebrate Internet publication of Makers
of the Mold. Click here to see our photo album of that night.

The Friends were honored
with a beautification award from the City of Newton in
1997.Click
here for the story. Click on
the small picture to see a larger image of the award.

You can send e-mail to the Friends at
.
You can contact the DCR Site Supervisor for Hemlock Gorge by
writing to Erica Aubin at .
Former site supervisor Kevin Hollenbeck () is now an administrator at DCR.
You can write directly to Friends President Brian Yates at .

The Friends of Hemlock Gorge Web Site went
online on December 2, 1996.